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eweaver1028's review
4.0
I read this because a friend recommended it to me, and it was pretty good. The prose was beautiful, but sometimes it did get in the way of me understanding what was going on (probably a me thing). I enjoyed the second half more because there were a few character dynamics happening that were compelling. I think I definitely would’ve gotten more out of this if I had more of a working knowledge of the myth, but overall I enjoyed it.
gothhotel's review
5.0
"The skin of the soul is a miracle of mutual pressures."
“A man moves through time. It means nothing except that like a harpoon, once thrown he will arrive.”
Dream-reading. Words that waltz off the page, spin you around, words that make you sit up straight. Anarchy, not disorder. At one point read while walking down the street. I don’t like to overexpose these things. It’s very good.
“A man moves through time. It means nothing except that like a harpoon, once thrown he will arrive.”
Dream-reading. Words that waltz off the page, spin you around, words that make you sit up straight. Anarchy, not disorder. At one point read while walking down the street. I don’t like to overexpose these things. It’s very good.
ssmariof's review
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
sham2102's review
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
mmmlysaght's review
5.0
"Geryon was a monster everything about him was red
Put his snout out of the covers in the morning it was red
How stiff the red landscape where his cattle scraped against
Their hobbles in the red wind
Burrowed himself down in the red dawn jelly of Geryon’s Dream
Geryon’s dream began red then slipped out of the vat and ran
Upsail broke silver shot up through his roots like a pup
Secret pup At the front end of another red day"
- "I. Geryon", Anne Carson
Carson is classical reception at its finest, a response and dialogue with Stesichoros as Stesichoros' work was to Homer. From Hades to Buenos Aires, Carson's inherited characters literally grow out of their classical dimensions and into sex, politics, love, art, abuse.
Carson writes that "Stesichoros began to undo the latches. Stesichoros released being". Carson clearly took hold of Heidegger's other Titan and unlatched Time in the style of her other two forerunners, Gertrude Stein and Emily Dickinson, for whom time was an erratic pulse rather than any node of certainty.
Her poetry is simultaneously timeless and fresh, owning partially to the three stylistically fragmented sections of the book. All three are uniquely difficult.
In her choice to turn Geryon's tale into a romance, I suspect that she (like Djuna Barnes in Nightwood) is forming a style of intimacy unique to the 20th/21st century; a modern ecstasy in the "'degrading'".
But maybe Carson like Helen, sitting with her glass of vermouth, will strike me blind for saying so; or maybe she will not.
Put his snout out of the covers in the morning it was red
How stiff the red landscape where his cattle scraped against
Their hobbles in the red wind
Burrowed himself down in the red dawn jelly of Geryon’s Dream
Geryon’s dream began red then slipped out of the vat and ran
Upsail broke silver shot up through his roots like a pup
Secret pup At the front end of another red day"
- "I. Geryon", Anne Carson
Carson is classical reception at its finest, a response and dialogue with Stesichoros as Stesichoros' work was to Homer. From Hades to Buenos Aires, Carson's inherited characters literally grow out of their classical dimensions and into sex, politics, love, art, abuse.
Carson writes that "Stesichoros began to undo the latches. Stesichoros released being". Carson clearly took hold of Heidegger's other Titan and unlatched Time in the style of her other two forerunners, Gertrude Stein and Emily Dickinson, for whom time was an erratic pulse rather than any node of certainty.
Her poetry is simultaneously timeless and fresh, owning partially to the three stylistically fragmented sections of the book. All three are uniquely difficult.
In her choice to turn Geryon's tale into a romance, I suspect that she (like Djuna Barnes in Nightwood) is forming a style of intimacy unique to the 20th/21st century; a modern ecstasy in the "'degrading'".
But maybe Carson like Helen, sitting with her glass of vermouth, will strike me blind for saying so; or maybe she will not.
darwinluvr's review
5.0
So incredibly thought out and well written. How she’s able to express so much in so little astounds me.
mellbutrin's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
waterbear0821's review
3.0
Well that sure happened. But why?
I enjoyed the poetry and the premise but not the story.
I liked the very Anne-Carson-y “if…then…” poem at the beginning. I liked the descriptions of the places and weather and voices and feelings. But I could not have cared less about the story and that feels like a failure.
Maybe I’ll have to try again.
I did like how it made my brain function.
I enjoyed the poetry and the premise but not the story.
I liked the very Anne-Carson-y “if…then…” poem at the beginning. I liked the descriptions of the places and weather and voices and feelings. But I could not have cared less about the story and that feels like a failure.
Maybe I’ll have to try again.
I did like how it made my brain function.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Incest